Come Again Some Other Day!

I am so happy on Sundays when we don’t get mail. When the USPS was thinking about not delivering mail on Saturdays, I danced a jig. Two days without mail sounded great. I’ll settle for one at this point.

Our mailboxes are pretty full on a daily basis with bills, magazines, catalogues, ads, etc. With the holidays fast approaching, our mailboxes are going to be fuller. Think additional catalogues, cards, more advertisements, and non-profits pulling at our heart strings asking for money.

So, how do we keep all this paper from invading our houses, and even sometimes our cars? How can we keep all the paper from finding a home on our kitchen counters, kitchen or dining room tables, or stuffed in plastic bags only to be dealt with later? Here are 5 steps to follow to keep all these paper from invading our space.

Sort, putting like with like. Make 4 piles – shred, recycle, file, and do later.

Recycle right away. Keep a bin near where you sorted so you can get rid of this pile right away.

Shred anything that has personal identifiable information on it. Keep a shredder in an area where you can access it easily so you can get rid of this pile right away as well.

File things you want to keep but don’t need to go through at that time. Put that pile away as soon as possible too.

Do later constitutes bills that have to be paid, things that you want to read, etc. Put this in an area where you will get to these things within the next couple of days or weeks. You’ll want to handle the bill-paying right away so as not to incur late fees. You may get to the reading materials within a few days or weeks. Make up an imaginary time frame for getting to the reading: if I haven’t gone through the materials within a week, month, 2 months, I’ll recycle.

With everything coming at us, this might sound easier than it is. Getting in the habit of handling the mail on a daily basis or even every couple of days will save you a ton of time in the long run. What are you going to do to keep any flat surface from getting piled up with paper or plastic bags from getting filled?